artisticmind

THIS!!! This was our scenario the entire Winter, which at our hospital, still hasn't ended. We were the ONLY fully staffed unit (telemetry) in the hospital. So we had the mandatory privilege of helping lesser staffed units. We went from our normal night ratios of 1:5 and the Charge having 2 to 1:6 with Charge in the count with 3 patients. Day shift went from 1:4 to 1:5 and an open Charge to a Charge with 2-3 or more patients. This started in November. Now at least once a week we are back up to 1:6 ratios on nights while days is still able to squeak in at their 1:4 ratios. It really sucks seeing day shift complaining about being full with 4 each while we still have to bust our butts at night with 6. This past weekend when filling in as Charge I was told by our staffing/bed board office that we were getting all the admissions because the other tele floor was short staffed for the weekend and they were trying to give them a break. Where was our break while our ratios were pushed up and we worked short since November because we had mandatory floating allowing the other floor to maintain a normal ratio?? Guess what, we are no longer a full staffed unit- we've lost 6 nurses from our night staff that they haven't been able to replace because word has got around how crappy it is.

My concern would be if you still have a place in your schools nursing program. Many schools have a policy that if you fail 2 classes in the same semester you are either removed and have to reapply after a wait period or you are removed and have to find a new school.

Yogurt or sugar-free puddings

Nearly all foleys (I know our Bard's do) now have statements printed on them to NOT PRE-INFLATE/test the balloon. it's possible that it can compromise the integrity of the balloon is the reasoning. This changed approximately 5 years ago when I first started nursing school.

My ADN class started with approximately 65 students, 1st year-1st quarter. 2 years later 30+ completed the program, 1 failed during the last week of class before graduation. The rest dropped out or transferred to other areas of study over the course of the 2 years. Most left during the med/surg rotation during the 2nd semester of our 1st year. We had a 100% NCLEX pass rate for the 30+ who did graduate though.

I'm going to play the negative nelly here- I just happened across your thread on the mobile app. I know a lot of abused kiddos have potty accidents after abuse starts. Is there any possibility, since a medical condition has all but been ruled out, that something else is going on, especially since he has become so quiet and withdrawn?

It depends on how the state of CA issues their renewals. In Nebraska all licenses expire on Halloween (they're good for 2 years). LPNs expire on odd years, RNs on even years. So in Nebraska it's possible to pass your Nclex in September and have your brand new license expire a month later. What they do is pro-rate the price of your license if you have less than 6 months until your expiration date and then when you renew you pay full price for your 2-yr license. I would read though CA's renewal policies and I would bet that it is something similar.

Unfortunately in nursing college prestigious-ness doesn't matter much other than in your local community/state. Hospital systems in the local area may have a preference on schools nursing grads come from but if you're in FL wondering if a NYC college will land you a job you are sadly mistaken. Save your money, go local/online because that BSN behind your name is the same 3 letters many other nurses have behind their names as well. My employers never once have asked where I obtained my ADN or where I'm currently getting my BSN.

Our 2nd year of our ADN program the 4 sections were divided. Groups A and B flipped sections halfway through the fall semester as did groups C & D. Then in the spring groups c and d took the classes a and b took in the fall. We worked it out where us in group A switched our books with group B in the fall and the in the spring we traded with group C or D, whoever had the text we needed. Talk about royally pissing the campus bookstore off! They were out money and none too happy!

Most, but not all, hospitals have switched over to billing medications that are scanned on the MAR (rather than when pulled from the med dispenser) because they know that stuff happens- meds are pulled like Tylenol then the patient refuses, is discharged, and the med is just tossed in a pharmacy return bin rather than returned in the pyxis.

FMLA is 12 months, it doesn't cover employees with less employment than that except special considerations for military and I believe pilots as I quickly glanced at the FAQs. FAQs: FMLA - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - U.S. Department of Labor Talk to your hr and supervisor to see what they recommend. Is it possible to go PRN instead of FT or PT with your condition?

My previous job in another field made employees sign "verbal" warnings essentially so they could cover their behinds in case it advanced far enough for them to terminate you. That way if they were giving you a 1st written warning you couldn't come back and say "but I never even received a verbal warning over xyz!" Do I think that this situation from what we are told necessitates a verbal warning? No- if it does any nurse that has ever been "fired" by a patient should be "verbally" warned for bring down their respective facilities satisfaction scores. It sounds like they are looking for a scape goat and you happen to be it

It will depend on your facility. My previous hospital you could not clock in more than 6 minutes early, my current hospital is 7 minutes so the earliest I can clock in at my current job for my shift that starts at 1800 is 1753. Prior to that it would be considered an unapproved clock in.

Both my current and former hospital systems require a 4 wk notice for licensed personnel. Maintenance, dietary, house keeping were/are required a 2 wk notice. As a nurse, especially new grad, orientations typically last 12 wks so that 4 wk notice hopefully gives them time to post and interview candidates for replacement but we all know that administration moved at a snails pace. I personally would say sorry I'm not able to accommodate the additional 2 wks of employment and start the new full gig with no regrets. It'll suck that you lose out on the PRN assignment but your soon to be former employer dropped that ball long ago.

Vaseline is also a petroleum-base which can not be used with any amount of oxygen as it is a fire hazard. With adult patients we used to take a mepilex foam and cut it in a Y-shape and place it on their face in an upside down position to protect the bridge and sides of their nose.

I relocated from Nebraska to Arizona last summer (2014). I applied with my Nebraska address on my app and resume. On the application there is almost always a question asking "are you willing to relocate?" and I marked yes on that and put my potential availability after our planned move date. I applied at the local hospitals and a surgery center. I received a call back from one hospital that is close to where we were moving to and had a phone interview. 2 weeks later I got a job offer and set a start date based on our moving date. It's possible to do in this day and age. watch out for hiring bonuses- they used to be plentiful during the age of the "shortage" but now if they are being offered it's probably because the facility can't keep staff and it will come with an employment contract-usually a year or two.

I think it's a felony to assault a healthcare worker doing their job anywhere in the US. At my facility in Nebraska a sign was posted at all entrances that states such, I haven't seen any signs at my job here in AZ but I haven't looked either. Part of your job is to be aware of your surroundings and avoid the patient being in between the exit and yourself which I know isn't always possible. You have the right to fight back in self defense when it comes down to it but I would check with your facility and BON because your job probably won't be protected if something like that happened.

Neither of the two hospitals I worked/work for stock ocuvite in the pharmacy, pharmacy therapeutically replaces it with a daily multivitamin. And no, I would not have called to get an order for it either. I would write a reminder under the "questions/concerns" section of the dry erase board in the patients room so that they could ask the MD during rounds and also pass it off to day shift.

it'll be up to your facility but i know most require the beard to be tried and kept neat, no duck dynasty styles allowed. The facility should have PAPRs available which would keep you contained in an isolation situation but they are hot and take time to apply and you may not have that in an emergency so an N95 would be better which would require you to be clean shaven.

the version of Cerner (e-charting) we use- there is no copy option, you'd have to select the same fields/options as the previous nurse. I had a patient about a month and a half ago that had a Right full arm fiberglass cast from her knuckles to mid-upper arm. previous nurses had all charted that R upper extremity pulses were 2+. There was no way to check radial or brachial pulses on that patient's arm. i charted "unable to assess" in that field and instead charted on cap refill. God forbid anything happened to that patient and we were called to court and the lawyer asks "the patient was in a full arm cast- how did you check pulses in that arm" I'm not going to put myself in the line of fire. In the end most of my stuff will match with the previous nurses assessments unless someone had a cardiac rhythm change or LOC change. CYA and chart what you see, not what someone else 'told" you.

Just a heads up but you do want to concern yourself with comfort. You'll be in your scrubs minimum of 13 hrs at a time and you want to make sure that you have a full range of motion in them so that your aren't afraid to stretch and feel like your going to pop seams, show your butt or tummy when lifting your arms up, etc. As someone else said go to a uniform store and try several brands/styles on. Snap a selfie in the dressing room and see how you look in each set and then make a decision. When you go to the store don't limit yourself to trying on just red because they may be out of a particular style in red if it is a high demand color but may have different style in another color and can order red in for you. Ask the store attendant what are popular styles/brands they sell and you'll find which ones are good and which don't sell very well.

Depends on the type of pump but both types I've worked with have a rate field, VTBI, and time field. There is a fourth but it just tells you the total amount infused and the only option there is to clear the amount to zero. The other 3 fields are programmable. Is it possible that she programmed the rate at 75mL/hr and set a time limit of 15mins (that's the rate I typically run blood at for the first 15mins- IV gauge barring I speed clear the NS in the tubing at a rate of 200 until the blood fills the entire length of my primary tubing until my first tinge of pink enters the extension set connected to the IV catheter in my patient and then I bump the pump down to 75/hr and start my 15 minute countdown. After that is up and they have no s/s if a reaction I speed the pump up to 125 or more depending on patient condition/history.) Or the other option is that if she's been hanging blood long enough that at a rate of 75mL/hr 18 mLs would infuse over about 15 minutes (75/4=18.75) and that would just be a number she memorized.

seeing as how Nursing school is pretty fresh in my mind since I graduated just over a year ago, you have another thing coming to you! Majority of programs require you to be a licensed CNA before allowing you to to even take your first nursing course, why? Because you preform CNA duties!!! You have to know how to properly take vital signs, reposition patients, clean them and make their beds and the list goes on and on. In the first semester of our program we were assigned 1 patient as our responsibility from 7am when we hit the floor until 2pm when we left. Anything they needed during that time was our job- wiping their butt, walking them to the dining hall if we were at the LTC facility, setting up their tray after dietary delivered it, bathing them, adjusting tele patches, emptying their garbage cans (that certainly is more of a housekeeping job than an RN job). Their call light went off- we answered it, us lowly "RN students." After 1st semester we got to do all that plus charting on 2 assigned patients. and answer call lights that were not assigned to us. and help our fellow students out. plus pass meds and explain in detail what the med does, class, side effects, and adverse effects in front of the patient to our instructor. Your program sounds like a walk in the park compared to what 95% or more of us went through.

Lying about your address will probably come back to bite you. Just put your current address down, after all your nursing license is registered in the state you currently live in (they would probably question "well how did you get a license there when you live here? Etc.) and on the application there is usually a question or two asking if you are willing to travel or relocate and I would mark that as yes. We recently moved cross country and that's how I filled out my apps though I had experience before we moved.

Ugh! i'll jump in on this- Lab techs at my new facility. Yes I know my pt has a PICC. However that said pt has a heparin gtt running through said PICC and when I put in a PTT (or vanc peak/trough or whatever other quantitative lab I put in) as a peripheral draw I have a darn good reason for doing that, especially a timed draw, I expect you to come up to the floor from your cushy lab chair and poke my pt peripherally for that draw, you know- the thing your are paid and trained to do; unless i know for absolute certain there is no way to get a peripheral draw. It was drilled in to me at my nice (and well organized facility with lots of policies like this in place) that if i'm checking the level of a med that is infusing through a line don't draw it off of the line. Took me 40 mins to get a lab tech up to do my draw that was due at 2200. I called at 2208 to see where they were "oh well he's a line draw, you can do it from the line as his nurse." No, he has heparin going through the line I can not draw it off there no matter how well i flush it as it can distort it, there is a reason it was put in as a peripheral draw and it needs to be done that way. After I said that to her I get "someone will be there in 20 mins." at 2240 I called because no tech showed, a new one answers the phone- "oh, so-and-so didn't report that there was a draw that needed done."